"Ryoun Takamatsu (1836 - 1916)" - 2-

One and a half years after he started a new life in Paris, civil wars had broken out all over the place in Japan due to political change. And it jeopardized the existence of the Tokugawa shogunate that had supported Ryoun for studying Western medicine. At hearing of the confusion of his country, he resolved, "I owe shogunate for being given a chance to study Western medicine. I should be a samurai before a doctor. To abandon my master to his fate is disgraceful behavior as a samurai." Thus he decided to go back to Japan soon.

After his coming back, Ryoun joined Takeaki Enomoto, a vassal of the shogunate and became a hospital director of Hakodate hospital to treat war injured.

One day, a group of peasants carried some enemy injured into the hospital.
Although one of the assistants of Ryoun drew back from taking care of them, Ryoun accepted them without hesitation. Some of patients who belong to the shogunate shouted, "Chuck them all out!" and tried to fight with a sword. At that time Ryoun was furious with them and said, "This hospital is mine. I was given absolute authority to manage this hospital. Whole injured soldiers are my patients and they should not be discriminated at all." Ryoun continuously treated the enemy injured and told the ideology of the house of God to the all patients of both sides on that night. In addition, he said, "I think we should positively adopt good Western customs like the house of God as we keep good Japanese traditions." To Ryoun's delight, from that time, both sides of patients came into open in a familiar tone each other.

After the war, Ryoun's superior intelligence and the efforts that he treated all the injured soldiers without discrimination were highly valued, and got many invitations to the important posts of the new government organization, but he refused all those offers. He wished to carry out the spirit of the house of God as a doctor in private practice.

As he started practice, his reputation spread with a lightning speed to a wide public, and it's said that the waiting room of Ryoun's clinic were always crowded with patients. In accordance with the spirit of the house of Gods, Ryoun had carried out free medical care for the poor people. On the other hand, he was of the opinion that he would need other doctor's supports and establish a free clinic system for poor people.

In 1878, Ryoun had already become the chairman of a medical association. In the medical conference he made a speech of the house of God, suggested to
set up an organization to examine the poor people for free and appealed the necessity of it. Later, this suggestion made established the organization named Doaisha in 1879, it's said that nearly one million patients went to Doaisha for examination, and Ryoun's great achievement led the Red Cross in Japan.

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